Belt dressing machine



July 11, 1967 c. J. HAZEN ETAL BELT DRES S ING MACHINE 3 Sheets$heet 1Filed March 5, 1965 m T N E v m July 1967 c. J. HAZEN ETAL 3,330,174

BELT DRESSING MACHINE Filed March 5', 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 H INVENTORSM J. agx/w '5 BY H. Iii/ 4 c. J. HAZEN ETAL ,174

BELT DRESSING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 1 1, 1967 Filed March 3,1965 Sii l li United States Patent 3,339,174 BELT DRESSIWG MACHINE CarlJ. Hazen, 321 E. Gmet, and Ellis H. Hills, 1955 S. Country Club Drive,both of Mesa, Ariz. 85201 Filed Mar. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 437,924 4 Claims.(Cl. 83-4) This invention pertains to devices for trimming andsharpening the adjacent corners of the fingers on endless pick-up beltsused for picking loose particles of cotton from the ground. The machineon which the belts are used has been patented and is now in use.

It has been found that after use the edges of the transverse slits whichpick up the cotton fibers wear and have to be resharpened to keep theadjacent corner edges of the slits sharp and true, and in order torefinish, or sharpen the edges of the belts adjacent the slits we havefound that the periphery of the belt may be trued up'or shaved so thatonly fresh live rubber is exposed and that if this is reshaped with thewalls of the slits made sharp and true the belt is renewed. The corneredges of these slits may be sharpened by shaving off the worn peripheralparts of the belt. This makes the corners of each finger sharp and truerelative to each slit.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine on which theworn belt may be placed and held under tension which has knives forcutting the material of the belts which is usually cured rubber, so thatfresh lateral surfaces are exposed, which are at right angles to thetransverse slits which pick up the cotton fibers;

Another object includes the provision of a machine which will shave theperipheral surface of a cotton pick-up belt to expose new and freshrubber adjacent to the new transverse pick-up slits formed in the belt;

Still another object is to provide a means for shaving the peripheralsurface and sides of cotton pick-up belts to renew the surface adjacentto the slits so that the edges of the slits, which engage the cottontufts, are sharp and clean, and will grab the smallest fibers.

Belts here concerned are of the type having a square section.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

I attain the foregoing objects by means of the devices and machine shownin the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 is a front elevationalview of a machine embodying devices constituting my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view showing the details of the operation of thecutting head on the belt being trimmed and rejuvenated;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the belt cutter;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the belt cutter;

FIGURE 6 is a section showing the trimming knife in operation;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view showing the trimming knife housing;

FIGURE 8 is a section showing particularly means for lubricating andcooling the trimming knife.

The machine is supported on a rectangular frame 2, having vertical legs3, at each of its corners. Transverse shafts 5 and 6 are operated onbearings 7 held within the frame, in bearing guides 7a (see FIG. 2).

On the near ends of the shafts, as viewed in FIGURE 2, there are pulleys5a and 6a having peripheral grooves to receive and hold a belt to betreated. Shaft 5 is driven by a motor 8 so that the belt is driven overboth pulleys at a predetermined regulated speed. Midway of the top lay10 of the belt there is a guide channel which forms a base against whichthe pressure of the grooving knives 3,339,174 Patented July 11, 1967 maywork. At the left end of the belt, and above and extending in a radialdirection out from pulley 511, there is a circular cutting or trimmingknife 12 operated by motor 14, which has a vertically positioned shaft11, and may be vertically adjusted by screw 16. This trimming knife 12is of the rotary type and has a sharpened periphery which contacts thebelt at a tangent to its periphery to shave off the outer surface andremove the worn and jagged edges of the transverse pick-up slots 4a onthe belts outer face. This knife is cooled and lubricated by fiuidintroduced by pipes 17a and 17b. Excess fluid drops into sump andstorage tank 24, as at 31, from which it is circulated by pump 19a. Atthe outer end of pipe 17, the flow is divided into pipes 17a and 17bwhich terminate in spray nozzles directed to the upper and lower facesof the knife 12, respectively. The lubricant is soapy water or itsequivalent. The direction of circulation is shown by arrows 20, FIGURE2.

The belt to be trimmed is first placed over the pulleys 5a and 6a andthen tightened to proper tension by a hydraulic piston 22 operating inhydraulic cylinder 23 controlled by valve 30. Due to the fact thatconsiderable tension stress is required, the hydraulic means are used inpreference to screw means.

The grooving knives 15 are shaped to cut semi-circular grooves 35 on theperipheral face of the belt. Since they have no lateral cutting movementthey are heated sufficiently to soften the rubber. This is doneelectrically, in a manner similar to an electric soldering iron.Electrical connections are made through cord 37. In this way the newlycut and shaved outer surface of the belt is provided with new deeper cutgrooves.

When worn belt 10 is placed over pulleys 5 and 6, it is tightened by thehydraulic piston 22 operating in cylinder 23 until the two lays (upperand lower) are straight. The drive pulley 5 is then rotatively operatedby motor 8 so that the belt travels in a counter-clockwise direction(FIG. 1). At the same time, knife 12 is operated to remove desiredperipheral portion of the belt material and provide a new outerperipheral portion which will intersect the edges of all transverseslots at right angles. This operation rejuvenates the belt and makes itsomewhat smaller on the outside. However, in practice, we have foundthat belts are usually made with an excess thickness and the removal ofthis outer layer does no harm to their salvaging operation.

We claim:

1. A pick-up belt dresser comprising a rectangular frame, a pair ofshafts extending transversely through said frame, grooved pulley wheelson the ends of said shafts, bearings in said frame journalling saidshafts, the hearings on one shaft being slidably adjustable toward andfrom the bearings of the other shaft so that said pulleys may be movedto tighten or loosen a belt placed over said pulleys by hydraulic meansfor moving said bearings; power means for rotating at least one of saidpulleys to move a belt to be dressed placed over said pulleys andsupported thereon; a rotary dressing knife having a peripheral cuttingedge, disposed on said frame with its cutting edge tangentially engagingthe outer surface of said belt; means for adjustably moving the cuttingedge of said rotary knife toward or from the outer surface of said belton said pulleys; and power means for rotating said rotary knife.

2. A pick-up belt dresser comprising a rectangular frame, a pair ofshafts extending transversely through said frame, grooved pulley wheelson the ends of said shafts, hearings in said frame journalling saidshafts, the hearings on one shaft being slidably adjustable toward andfrom the bearings of the other shaft so that said pulleys may be movedto tighten or loosen a belt placed over said pulleys by hydraulic meansfor moving said 3 bearings; power means for rotating at least one ofsaid pulleys to move a belt to be dressed placed over said pulleys andsupported thereon; a rotary'dressing knife havingva peripheral cuttingedge, disposed on said frame with its cutting edge tangentally engagingthe outer surface of said belt; means for adjustably moving the cuttingedge of said rotary knife toward or from the outer surface of said belton said pulleys; and power means for rotating said rotary knife; agroove cutting knife having a pivotally supported supporting frame tomove said knives to and from the-surface of a belt supported on saidpulleys, and means for heating the groove cutting knives while cuttingsaid grooves.

3. A pick-up belt dresser comprising a rectangular frame, a pair ofshafts extending transversely through said frame, grooved pulley wheels,on the ends of said shafts, bearings in said frame journalling saidshafts, the

, bearings on one shaft being slidably adjustable toward and from thebearings of the other shaft so that said pulleys may'be moved to tightenor loosen a belt placed over said pulleys by hydraulic means for movingsaid bearings;

power means for rotating at least one of said pulleys to move a belt tobe dressed placed over said pulleys and supported thereon; a rotarydressing knife having a peripheral cutting edge, disposed on said framewith its cutting edge tangentally engaging the outer surface of saidbelt, means for adjustably moving the cutting edge of said rotary knifetoward or from the outer surface of said belt on said pulleys; and powermeans for rotating said "rotary knife; a groove cutting knife having apivotally supported supporting frame to move said knives to and from thesurface of a belt supported on said pulleys, and

means for heating the groove cutting knives while cutting said grooves;means for lubricating said rotary knife including a spray of watersoluble lubricant directed on,

the cutting edge of said knife during the cutting operation.

i 4. A pick-up belt dresser comprising a rectangular frame, a pair ofshafts extending transversely through said frame, grooved pulley wheelson the ends of said shafts, bearings in said frame journalling saidshafts,

the bearings on one shaft being slidably adjustable to-- ward and fromthe bearings of the other shaft so that said pulleys may be moved totighten or loosen a belt placed over said pulleys by hydraulic means formoving said bearings; power means for rotating at least one of saidpulleys to move a belt to be dressed placed over said pulleys andsupported thereon; a rotary dressing knife having a peripheral cuttingedge, disposed on said frame with its cutting edge tangentally engagingthe outer surface" of said belt; means for adjustably moving, .the'cutting edge of'said rotary knife toward or from the outer surface ofsaid belt on said pulleys; and powermeans for rotating said rotaryknife; a groove cutting knife having a pivotally supported supportingframe to move said knives .to and from the surface of a belt supportedon said pulleys, and means for heating the groove cutting knives whilecutting said grooves; means for lubricating said rotary knife,comprising a' case enclosing the cutting area of said knife having anupper side and a lower side; a spray nozzle directing a spray ofwaterisoluble liquid" lubricant on the knife edge while cutting, anoutlet catch: ing excess liquid, a sump below said outlet, a powerdriven circulating pump in said sump forcing said liquid from said sumpto said spray nozzle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,048,361 7/1936 Stevens 83'--12,588,647 3/1952 Mitchell '83-171 3,156,147 11/1964 Linnvet al. 83-53,286,563 11/1966 Gilbert et al. 835- WILLIAM W. DYER, JR.,PrimaryExaminer.

JAMES M. MEISTER, Examiner.

1. A PICK-UP BELT DRESSER COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR FRAME, A PAIR OFSHAFTS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH SAID FRAME, GROOVED PULLEY WHEELSON THE ENDS OF SAID SHAFTS, BEARINGS IN SAID FRAME JOURNALLING SAIDSHAFTS, THE BEARINGS ON ONE SHAFT BEING SLIDABLY ADJUSTABLE TOWARD ANDFROM THE BEARINGS OF THE OTHER SHAFT SO THAT SAID PULLEYS MAY BE MOVEDTO TIGHTEN OR LOOSEN A BELT PLACED OVER SAID PULLEYS BY HYDRAULIC MEANSFOR MOVING SAID BEARINGS; POWER MEANS FOR ROTATING AT LEAST ONE OF SAIDPULLEYS TO MOVE A BELT TO BE DRESSED PLACED OVER SAID PULLEYS ANDSUPPORTED THEREON; A ROTARY DRESSING KNIFE HAVING A PERIPHERAL CUTTINGEDGE, DISPOSED ON SAID FRAME WITH ITS CUTTING EDGE TANGENTIALLY ENGAGINGTHE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID BELT; MEANS FOR ADJUSTABLY MOVING THE CUTTINGEDGE OF SAID ROTARY KNIFE TOWARD OR FROM THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID BELTON SAID PULLEYS; AND POWER MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ROTARY KNIFE.